Mercury/UMe
Mercury/UMeGregg Allman‘s debut solo album Laid Back is being reissued in a deluxe edition next Friday, and a rare live track included in the package is available for streaming now.
The track is a solo acoustic version of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Melissa,” which Allman performed in 1974 during an encore of his solo show at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey. Gregg dedicated the song to his late bandmates, brother Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, and mentioned that it was Duane’s favorrite song.
If you pre-order the album now, you’ll get “Melissa” as an instant free download.
Laid Back is the first archival release since Allman’s death in 2017. It’ll be available in a number of different formats, including a two-CD set, 180-gram black vinyl and limited-edition purple-and-white marble vinyl.
Released in October ’73, Laid Back also includes a solo version of The Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider,” a cover of Jackson Browne‘s “These Days” and a rendition of the traditional tune “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
Also on Friday, Gregg Allman’s live album The Gregg Allman Tour is being re-released for the first time since 1987, in both regular and limited-edition colored vinyl. It was recorded in 1974 over three nights at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall and the Capitol Theatre show.
During that tour, Gregg was backed by a 24-piece orchestra and a band called Cowboy, whose members included founding Allman Brothers drummer Jaimoe and then-Allmans keyboardist Chuck Leavell.